Taxing product components

Taxing product components

I refer to the article Diamonds not Indonesia's best friend,
yet at least". (The Jakarta Post, Aug. 15). I reply as a jewelry
designer living in Bali.

Java and Bali have excellent silver workers but many of their
designs are not appropriate for western markets. There are many
foreign designers in Bali serving as a bridge to wider markets,
and they are the key to expanding this industry, not higher
technology.

Unfortunately bureaucracy prevents this industry from really
blooming by creating many obstacles for foreign designers to live
and work here. There is even a requirement that they have a
diploma in design ... I know of at least 10 major designers based
here whose work is very successful. None of them has ever been to
a design school.

This kind of creativity can't be learned in school. Also there
is a tax on imported semiprecious stones, which makes the cost of
stone-set jewelry higher. When trying to develop an export
industry, it makes no sense to tax product components.

Lastly, where are all these Indonesian gemstones? We designers
would love to introduce them to the world, but they never appear
in Bali's gem wholesale shops.

HAZEL FOX
Ubud, Bali